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January 28, 2004

House Panel Pushes TV, Radio to Clean Up Shows

House lawmakers on Wednesday called on television and radio broadcasters to clean up their act by instituting stricter standards after renewed complaints about the coarseness of some programming.

They expressed disappointment that big broadcasters were not represented at a Congressional hearing delving into the issue of indecency and faulted the Federal Communications Commission for not sufficiently enforcing its rules.

"I believe American families should be able to rely on the fact that -- at times when their children are likely to be tuning in -- broadcast television and radio programming will be free of indecency, obscenity and profanity," said Rep. Fred Upton, chairman of the House subcommittee on communications.

He said networks should review their codes of conduct and, in the case of live broadcasts, their time-delay procedures and redouble efforts to make them work.

Federal law bars the airing of obscene speech and limits the broadcasting of indecent material, containing sexual or excretory references in a patently offensive manner, to late night programming.

Upton and two dozen other House lawmakers are pushing legislation that would boost tenfold the $27,500 maximum per incident fine that can be imposed on broadcasters who violate indecency rules.

Rep. Billy Tauzin, chairman of the full House Energy and Commerce Committee, commended News Corp.'s Fox network for using a five-second delay when broadcasting live events to ensure indecent material is not aired.

READY TO OVERTURN DECISION

Last fall, the FCC staff ruled that NBC television stations did not violate rules when they aired the 2003 Golden Globe Awards during which U2 singer Bono shouted "f---ing brilliant" when accepting an award.

The five FCC commissioners are poised to overturn the staff decision, but it was unclear whether a fine would be imposed. A similar incident occurred during a Fox broadcast.

"I am sorry that this panel does not include witnesses from NBC and Fox because I would have liked to ask them about those broadcasts," said Rep. John Dingell, a Michigan Democrat. "The fact that the FCC did not penalize the NBC network is curious to say the least."

The FCC on Tuesday proposed fining radio broadcaster Clear Channel Communications $755,000 for airing, among other things, purported cartoon characters describing explicit sexual activities at a time when children were likely to be listening.

Parents groups are pushing the FCC and Congress to increase fines and hold hearings to determine whether broadcasters who violate indecency laws should have their licenses revoked or not renewed.

"The $27,000 maximum fine is a joke and everyone knows it," Brent Bozell, president and founder of the Parents Television Council, said in prepared testimony. "The FCC must get serious about revoking station licenses for those who refuse to abide by standards of indecency."

The legislation introduced last week would boost fines the FCC can impose to $275,000 per violation or up to $3 million for continuing violations. Upton said he was pushing to move the measure through Congress quickly.